In 1715, the king in Copenhagen established a central office for mission work, the Misjonskollegiet (Missionary College), to promote the spread of Christianity. The Sámi were considered a people in need of mission work, as their traditional beliefs were still practiced. At the same time, it was equally important to the mission that the Sámi embraced what they believed to be the correct form of Christianity. Reverend Thomas von Westen, who grew up in Trondheim, was tasked with leading this mission. He operated from Trondheim, where, with funds from the Missionary College, he rented a space in a building on the Cathedral Cemetery known as "Hestestallen" (The Stable), which also housed the Cathedral School. He established two schools in the city—one in the "Hestestallen" and the other in his private home behind the present-day town hall—to train teachers and missionaries, and embarked on three long missionary journeys north. Thomas von Westen and his missionaries exerted heavy pressure on the Sámi to convert to what they considered the true faith. Even after von Westen's death, Trondheim remained a central hub for missionary work among the Sámi. 

Christianity was not new to the Sámi, but the intense missionary efforts were something different. Some Sámi opposed what Thomas von Westen and the mission were doing, while others converted and became devout Christians. Lars Nilsen from Tynset had dream omens warning that it would cost him his life if he engaged with the mission, according to von Westen. Nonetheless, Lars Nilsen went to Trondheim in 1724 to meet von Westen and was converted to the true faith. Lars Nilsen also wanted the other members of his family and their sïjte (a Sámi community or group) to convert, as he came from one of the four families living together in a sïjte (a Sámi community) in Tynset. 

Sources and Further Reading

Baustad, T. (1986), Harsdorffbygningen – Trondheim Katedralskoles eldste bygning 1787 – 1987, Trondheim Katedralskole, Trondheim

Gaski, H. (2022) “Samisk religion”, Stor norsk leksikon.

Hammond, H (1787). Den Nordiske Missions-Historie i Nordlandene, Finmarken og Trundhiems Amt til Lappers og Finners Omvendelse (...). Gyldendals forlag.

Hermanstrand, H. (2016). “I grenseland - sørsamisk i Midt-Norge", forskning.no.

Wallin-Weihe, H-J. & Willumsen, L.H. (2023), “Thomas von Westen”, Stor norsk leksikon.